Memories Are Made of This - Week of June 5th

How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard. 
~ A.A. Milne

At the end of each school year, some friends will be destined for a new building in the fall.  This change, this transition is something Cam has experienced for a few years now, watching his 4th grade friends depart elementary school.

Ms. Barbara & Cam

As he marked the end of 3rd grade this week, we hosted our 3rd annual End of School Cookout, which is really a Thank You to all of Cam's teachers, aides, therapists, bus drivers and close classmates.  "Mr. D." has been one of Cam's drivers for three years running.  Without any prompting, Mr D. told Jane that when Cam got on the bus for the last ride of the school year, he said "Thank you for driving me every day!"

The party was scheduled for 3pm to provide a bit of time for all of the educators and helpers to finish out their half day of school and make it over to Cam's house.  It was quite a spread with everyone contributing.  Chris & his son even surprised Jane with an early birthday cake!  The chocolaty goodness complimented the burgers, hot dogs, chips, fruit, homemade beans and many other treats.  As per tradition, Cam asked that the slideshow posted in last week's blog be shown on the tv before the guests left.

Per Oma's request, we headed to the cottage on Saturday for an overnight stay.  Auntie Jo joined us with her dog, Max, and brought along some tasty goodies. Jane had celebrated her birthday on Friday with her boys.  Chris & Cam spoiled Jane and made her feel so very special.
Oma had plans to continue the festivities on Saturday.

Cam going after his mom's new shades

A cake from our favorite bakery, Rykes, decorated with one of Jane's favorite pictures was such a treat.  Aunt Joyce, Uncle Joe, Aunt Gay and Mike all joined us for dessert.  To Cam's delight, we all played a few games afterwards (thanks to Auntie Karen!) via a card deck of different activities.  The first was saying the name of an animal and the next person had to think of an animal name that started with the last letter of the previous one...player 1= elephant, player 2= turtle, player 3= emu, and so on.  We tried out a limerick one as well as making up a story about any object in the room.  Oma and Auntie Jo won that round when both wove different creative stories about a water bottle and a coaster.

Playtime on the beach rounded out our weekend, digging in the sand, feeling the chilly water and the warm sand.  The ever changing shoreline always makes for an interesting stroll along Lake Michigan.

Our sunshine was a plenty on Saturday while some clouds rolled in Sunday.  The beach is always a treat in any weather, though.
An abundance of thanks to Oma and Opa for the delicious homemade meals, sweet presents for Jane and the best accommodations.

Camology Quotes:

Cam liked having Auntie Jo and her dog, Max around.  When Auntie Jo's dog was left in our care for a bit on Sunday, we decided to take a walk on the beach. (It should be noted that Max had an incredibly long shore trek on Saturday.)  Jane & Chris aren't used to having a canine around and as we continued on our stroll, Cam suddenly asked, 

"Um, where's Max?"

Luckily, we discovered he had escaped back to the cottage waiting for his owner to return.  It's obvious if Cam's parents are expected to be responsible for any pets, their son needs to be present at all times!